Investment Q&A

Q: Hello Peter,

With the uncertainty created by the new variant likely to impact the economy and delay interest rate hikes I am preparing for extreme market reaction in the margin account where I might have to lighten up the portfolio.
I would appreciate if you could grade the sectors and subsectors to reduce first, from the list below.
Industrials, Technology, Digital payments/lending, Faangs, Online Retailers/commerce and in general high growth(&value) companies that have taken a hit over the last week or so.
I apologize if the question has got jumbled up, but would appreciate your rationalized response.
As always, your opinion and suggestions are highly valued.
Regards
Rajiv

Q: Hi 5i team,
I just received notice from PFB that the board wants to sell out to
PFB Bidco for 24.10/share, a small premium to the current trading price. Am I correct in seeing this as just a way of taking the company private? Would that indicate that the trading price has been too low in their opinion? Any general lessons I should learn from this? (I'm in a profit position, but I was holding under the belief that there was still lots of upside.)
As usual, thank you so much, 5i, for your investment help and opinions.

Q: This company advertises that both Eric Sprott and First Majestic are investors. Are the size of these investments significant enough to indicate a fairly strong conviction?

On the Insiders report on your site I see the following during Sept 2020:
Shares Traded: 4,621,241
Transaction: Buy under a prospectus exemption at $1.40 per Share
Value: $6,469,737.00
Shares Held: 0

There are three separate transactions listed with the same figures, except that one shows Shares Held as > 0.

What should this tell me? Why is "Shares Held" = 0 after two of the transactions?

Thanks,

Q: I have had some very volatile price swings in after hours trading ( positive and negative) and I'm wondering what the rationale is for this activity given the much reduced volumes. Today anaplan is trading 16 percent down after hours ( minutes before they release earnings) that seems odd. Why would an investor (including firms) want to sell after hours? Seems risky and results in seemingly large price moves. I see that in Canada we do not allow after hours trading is that correct?

Q: Other than the investment being hedged in Canadian dollars is there any advantage or disadvantage in buying a cdr in disney?

Q: Can U recommend a good book to explain transferring a RRSP to a RIFF
THANKS RON

Q: Greetings 5i team.

As follow-up to Grants Q of Nov 17, please go into more detail re: the substantial issuer bid LNF announced. It appears to put a floor on the downside through Dec 30th at 24.30 and caps the upside at 25.05. Is this correct? Are they doing this based on actual shares traded that we see, or do they intend to buy most of this through block transactions? The average daily traded shares do not appear to add up to the number they are trying to purchase.

Many thanks for your help.

Q: Peter,

Not a question, just a comment. In a recent question about banks you mentioned you have been wrong about BNS. In my opinion admitting this is a huge credibility boost for you and your service. The easy thing to do is to give the political answer and never admit you are wrong. That " Nadal" spin is what turns me off of politicians. That is so easy to see through. As Greg Bonnell once mentioned on Market Call any advisor is going to be wrong 30% of the time. It the ones that you get right { You have had a lot of them } that chart the real course. Your service has put a LOT of money in the pockets of the subscribers.

Thanks

Paul

Q: Hello, I am looking for an answer to a difficult question about evaluation of risk for fixed income assets.
I understand that for a long time, it was anticipated that the long decline of interest rates and correlated bond rally has ground down and the current prevailing question surrounding interest rates is how fast they may rise.
With this in mind, could you please offer thoughts on the relative risk of bonds? How much downside potential is there, and is it justifiable to buy their low volatility, even if it is believed to be a (apparently) horrible investment with no future potential, just for those two percents of yield?
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Q: I added 400 shares of VEDL in my wife's Spousal RRSP ---Vedanta Limited American Depositary Shares, after reading your answer to David On Sept.28/21--Nov.10/21 I received a notice from ITRADE, stating the company is deemed to be a non-qualified investment (NQI) for registered plans under the Income Tax Act. ... CRA may levy 50% penalty of the market value of the NQI ... Understand now delisted as a ADS. Can you help me to understand this mess? Also what red flag would be raised so I don't buy stocks That CRA rules NQI
Thank You
Cec

Q: Hello, in the answer to a member’s question about “fraudulent activity” you say: “We would exercise more caution on foreign entities due to accounting differences. Over the counter small companies should essentially just be avoided.” My question is related to the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Market VEE ETF that contains 5250 stocks, out of which 37% are from China. Is it possible that many of the VEE stocks fall into the category stated above? Thank you

Q: A friend commented that buying this fund would be a positive play in the event there is a Bear Market. I believe that a Bear Market is going to happen however when is anyone's guess, but things can't be climbing indefinitely so a reset of some sort has to happen. What is this fund and what part, if any, could such a fund play in one's portfolio. A simple explanation would be appreciated as I consider myself still 'in training' in the DIY investment world. Please note I have a limited number of stocks (7) in my portfolio (representing 6 sectors)
all which are in your Model Income Portfolio. Thank-you

Q: Peter and 5i,

I asked various questions yesterday on convertible debentures.

I want to give you a huge thank you to you and your team.

One of my questions was will the discount brokerage inform you of any Notice of Redemptions on the convertibles. Your answer was, “they should, but you should keep on top of things”.

So it prompted me to check on my current convertibles and sure enough PBH.DB.F just put out a Notice of Redemption on November 12. You have till December 16 to convert. If you do not elect to convert by that date you get back your $1,000 for each debenture on December 16 instead of $1,223 (9.324 common shares at a current value of $131.25). As you said in another part of your answer – not converting will result in a large loss.

If not for your answer I would never have checked. Thank you for saving me 22.3% on each debenture with your answers to my questions. As advertised – Many members find the Investment Questions alone to be worth the subscription price many times over. You certainly did this for me. Thank you for the great service and the advice you give to inform and educate the DIY Investor.

In talking to my discount brokerage, they emphasized they are a discount brokerage. They do not notify their customers of any Notice of Redemptions. It is up to the customer to monitor their own investments and call them to inform the discount brokerage that you would like to convert.

Q: Hi , every once in a while a company get exposed for fraudulent activity. Sino Forest was one I owned an lost 40k on them getting shuttered.

How often do you think these companies that are fraudulently operated get caught? I also lost about 10 k on a Chinese clothing company that just disappeared.

How many companies are out there that aren’t getting exposed?
Thanks for your thoughts

Q: I have Shopify stock on TSX and am interested in protecting my investment.
1) What are your thoughts about buying a PUT OPTION as security?
2) Are they available on TSX as they are on NYSE?
3) Are they available only for CASH or MARGIN accounts and not for registered accounts?
Please take as many credits as needed.

Q: Investors edge (cibc brokerage) has been unable to update stock prices throughout the day this week(they've had other issues in the past). Have any other brokerages had similar issues or problems? I'm thinking of switching to TD. Do all brokerages have problems, and what might they be?

Thanks to those who can provide insight.

Mark

Q: Hi Peter and 5i,
Thank you for all the valuable advice and insight over the years. It is much appreciated.
I’ve been slowly buying a few convertible debentures as a small part of my fixed income portfolio. Mainly interested in the enhanced coupon rate the convertible debentures pay with the potential of the conversion into common shares.
I just have a few questions to ensure that I am understanding all the terms associated with the convertible debentures. Most of the issues seem to have relatively all the same terms regarding Conversion, Maturity Date Structure and Share Payment Option on Redemption or Maturity.
I’ll use the November 16th issue from EIF as an example.
Maturity Date – January 15, 2029
Coupon Rate – 5.25%
Conversion - The Debentures will be convertible at the holder’s option into fully-paid common shares of the Company (“Shares”) at any time prior to the earlier of 5:00pm (ET) on January 15, 2029 and the business day immediately preceding the date fixed for redemption at a conversion price of $60.00 per Share (the “Conversion Price”), representing a 30% premium, being a ratio of 16.6667 Shares per $1,000 principal amount of Debentures.
Redemption Scenarios:
1. The debentures will not be redeemable by the Co. at any time on or before January 12, 2025.
2. After January 15, 2025 and prior to January 15, 2027, the debentures will be redeemable by the company on not more than 60 days and not less then 30 days prior notice at a price payable equal to $1,000 per debenture plus accrued and unpaid interest, provided that the Current Market Price (CMP is defined as the volume weighted average trading price of the shares on the TSX for the 20 consecutive trading days ending 5 trading days prior to the applicable date) of the shares on the date on which the notice of redemption is given exceeds 125% of the Conversion price.
3. On or after January 15, 2027, and prior to the Maturity date, the debentures will be redeemable by the company on not more than 60 days and not less than 30 days prior notice at par value plus accrued and unpaid interest.
Share Payment Option on Redemption or Maturity – Payment will be satisfied by delivering for each $1,000 due, that number of freely tradeable shares obtained by dividing $1,000 by 95% of the Current Market Price (CMP)
Questions:
1. Do you see any downsides to have a % of fixed income portion of a portfolio in convertible debentures?
2. Redemption Scenario #2. This seems like the critical 2 years.
a. Am I understanding it correctly in that the Company can only redeem during these two years if the price of the common stock is above $75 (Conversion Price $60 x 1.25)?
b. If the company gives a Notice of Redemption during this period, you better take it (provided my understanding of a. was correct). It seems they would really want to pay in shares versus cash.
c. Do the discount brokerages (in this case iTRADE) normally notify you of a Notice of Redemption?
3. Redemption Scenario #3. If you get a Notice of Redemption in the last two years, does the holder have the option to convert into common shares (say the shares were trading at $80) before the redemption date.
4. Is there a general rule as to when you should convert?
5. Is it common for companies to use the Share Payment Option on redemption or maturity?
6. Have I missed anything that you would suggest to watch for?
Thank you so much for helping me understand my small adventure into convertible debentures.

Q: Do you have any recommendation's on an independent financial planner that specifically specializes with early retirement?

Thanks,

Joe

Q: My question is about convertible debenture. What are they? What is the difference between a good one or a bad one? For instance, exchange income corp. Just put one out at 5.25%
Thx

Q: This is not a question. Just sharing. Was thinking that taking profits is hard because after you sell and the stock continues to go up you miss out on more profits.

But holding losers too long is even worse.

So how do you win?